abgebenvsabgebogenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“abgeben” and “abgebogen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,556
“abgeben” frequency rank
#37,333
“abgebogen” frequency rank
40889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgeben abgebogen
Definition jemandem etwas geben, der es haben soll oder verlangt Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abbiegen

Where the eye mixes abgeben and abgebogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abgeben runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against abgebogen's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
abgeben
9 ch
abgebogen

Look-alike desk: abgeben vs abgebogen

A purely visual mix-up. abgeben ([ˈapˌɡeːbn̩]) and abgebogen ([ˈapɡəˌboːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgeben is recorded at frequency rank #3,556, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌɡeːbn̩]. abgebogen is at rank #37,333, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌboːɡn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 40889, this pair ranks #1,495,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgeben vs abgebogen

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "abgeben": -. Private to "abgebogen": o.

"abgeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "abgebogen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgeben ← abbgeben · abegben · abgbeen · abgebben · abgebenn · abgebne · abgeebn · abggeben
  • abgebogen ← abbgebogen · abegbogen · abgbeogen · abgebbogen · abgebgoen · abgeboegn · abgebogenn · abgeboggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abgeben" and "abgebogen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈapɡəˌboːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abgeben" or "abgebogen" show up more?
"abgeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,556 in our German list, against #37,333 for "abgebogen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "abgeben" and "abgebogen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abgebogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,495,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgeben" and "abgebogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgebogen vs abgelegen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,495,424 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list